The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-07-17
Written for THE HERALD.
MYTHS OF CREATION AND MAT
TERS OF BELIEF.
BY GAsKELL.

falter in the pursuit of truth and the
true worship of God. New theories and
new practices have the novelty of dis
covery and the iconoclasm OF innova-
ton to recommend them; yet they
should not therefore be valued unless
they have the leaven of truth and the
solidity of past experience and past
trial to strengthen them. 1t is not
until facts are written, are read, COM
mented upon and understood, that men
have the wisdom, and the light of pre-
ceding generations to aid them in the
future development of the mind. The
greatest faith and the most varied
experience of one man alone, unassisted
by the knowledge derived from others,
or by revelation from the Creator,
would be but triaing compared with the
sum total of information and civilization
of the present age. Men learn by the
things they suffer, necessity begetting
means to accomplish an end, and
thrice happy they who from the trying
experience of others can avoid error
and prevent suffering.
There is no rest in nature-all is
ceaseless, neVer-ending activity. A con-
slant building up and gathering to
gether, and a constant decay and dis
persion are alike going on. The man of
| to-day is not exactly the same man he
yesterday for there is continuous change
however infnitesimal it may be. The
flower that blooms to-day and sends
forth its delicious, grateful fragrance to
our nostrils-to-morrow may have
passed away, giving place to others of
like nature with itself. that in turn to
likewise pass away. Thus on, in never
death the forces of nature are never
idle, always at work, ever active. ~
One substance sometimes undergoes
many changes, though change IN form
does not always denote change of
nature. The vivid lightning takes
vsrious shapes and forms, yet all these
differences are intrinsically the same in
nature. 1t issues from the dark storm
cloud as lightning, passes through
metal as electricity, skaters and renhs
to pieces as force of motion, non-con-
ductile matter, melts metals as heat.
changing in each instance according to
conditions, obstacles through magpe:s
ism. Heat, or electricity itself, is Dol
matter, but product of matter; or in
other words 1t is motion among particles
of matter. Motion and friction make
heat appear-even two pieces of ice can
be melted by friction one upon the other,
the same way as two pieces of wood can
be set on fire by rubbing together.
Thus we see there Is no rest in nature, as
we have said, and all is ceaseless activity
and this never ending motion is in
thn nf tool he
forces from which 1t is derived and by
which it is maintained.
AS to the how, or when, man was
created matters little in the history of
his experience. The development and
increase of his enlightenment from the
ignorance and barbarlsm of savage life
have been gradual, and by the same
general lines of experience, be
the tIme much or little, long or
short. Nor is any essential doctrine,
or saving principle in morals, or
righteousness in religion, involved in
the acceptance or rejection, of any term
of duration for the past history Of man.
kind, the growth and civilization of the
human race. Nor, though different
nations and peoples have different ira
ditions and beliefs as we have shown, as
to how man came to be placed on earth.
it does not prove that any other power
than that Of the Highest placed him
here.
The serpent plays an important part
in almost all the religions of the ancient
world; principally as the spirit of evil,
and so widespread was this belief that it
would almost seem to have originated
migration of families and tribes from
their original home lands. The serpent
is the Tempter, as in the Bible in the
Persian legend of creation which is
almost identical with that of Genesis,
except in the matter of names. Ormuzd
promised the first man and woman
eternal happiness if they ever remained
good and obedient to the pure precepts
of virtue, but Ahrimen, the spirit of
evil, in other words the devil, sent one
of his followers, demon, in the form
of serpent to beguile and tempt them,
who told them ali their blessings came
from his master, Ahriman, and that
they should not believe Ormuzd, VINO
had deceive ed them that he might keep
them ignorant and tyrannize over them.
Filled with doubt they were simple
enough at last to believe the demon; at
his suggestion they ate the fruit he
gave them and thus lost their happy
state as well as their nope OF eternal
life. For their disbelief in his word and
their contempt of his command.
Ormuzd, drove them away from their
first abode out into the wide world.
Then in their wandering they killed
and ate of the beasts of the field and
the birds of the air, clothed themselves
in skins to resist the summer sun and
winter colds and storm. As mankind
increased the rivalry that ensued in the
efforts to gain livelihood, gave birth
to envy and hatred; quarreling and
strife followed and descending to their
posterity cursed all their descendants.
poisoned all their joys, darkened all
their hopes and caused quarreling even
down to the present day.
The serpent has been an object OF wor'
ship, not only of evil, but of good like
wise. Among certain African tribes it
is looked upon as the emplem OF
wisdom. Coiled in q circle il was the
figure that represented eternal duration,
or Immortality, and as such was used
by the Egyptians, Phenecians, Assyrl-
ans and other kindred nations.